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..::||  SportsOnlyAuction.com User Agreement and Terms  ||::..

The following describes the terms in which this website (SportsOnlyAuction.com), herein referred to as SportsOnlyAuction.com, us, we our, this website, and SOA) provides you access to our services. We reserve the right to supplement, revise, or update these terms at any time without notice to you. Be advised that you should read these Terms as well as our Privacy Policy on a regular basis as you continue to use our website because they may change without notice to you at any time, the date of last revision is at the bottom of the page. Continued use of this website will indicate your acceptance of our terms, policies, updates, revisions and conditions so please check back and refer to this page often.

Eligibility for Membership: Our services are available only to individuals who can form legally binding contracts under applicable law. Our services are not available to minors except under adult supervision as described on our Policy Page. If you do not qualify, please do not use our website.

The United States Federal Trade Commission provides some great information for auction users. Please see their publications entitled Internet Auctions : A Guide for Buyers and Sellers and Internet Auctions: Secrets of Success

1. Bidding. Placing a bid on an item is an irrevocable offer to buy the item at the price of the bid, provided your bid is a winning bid at the close of the auction. A winning bid is a bid that is the highest bid on an item, or in the event of a tie, the bid placed chronologically earliest. In the case of a reserve price auction a bid is only a winning bid if it meets or exceeds the reserve price on the item. In the case of a Dutch auction there may be more than one winning bid depending on the quantity of items available and the number of bids placed.

Placing a bid constitutes your agreement to entering into a binding legal agreement with the seller to purchase the item at the winning bid price and in accordance with the terms stated in the item listing and the rules of this website. You must resolve any questions about the item by contacting the seller of the item prior to placing a bid. Do not place a bid until you are sure that you understand what you are bidding on and, if necessary, have received a response from the seller of the item regarding any questions you may have. Biding is subject to bid increments and items may be subject to a minimum bid.

Once a bid is placed it may not be cancelled or retracted without the permission of the seller. The seller is not obligated to grant permission to retract or cancel a bid, and it is not the duty of this auction site to request permission from the seller for a bid retraction or cancellation. Any bid cancellation must be worked out between buyer and seller without assistance from the auction site. By bidding on an item, you authorize us to release your contact information, including name, address, email, and telephone number, to the seller who listed the item. Auctions will not be extended due to technical difficulties. Do not wait until the last minute to bid!

2. Listing. Placing an item for auction is an irrevocable offer to sell an item to the winning bidder. The winning bidder is the highest bidder on the item, or in the event of a tie, the bidder who placed the highest bid chronologically earliest. In the case of a reserve price auction a bid is only a winning bid if it meets or exceeds the reserve price on the item. In the case of a Dutch auction there may be more than one winning bid depending on the quantity of items available and the number of bids placed.

Listing an item constitutes entering a binding legal agreement to sell the item to the highest bidder as determined by the rules of the auction. Items listed on this auction site may not be concurrently offered for sale on any other online auction site unless you intend to sell the exact item on both websites. Once an item is listed and has received a winning bid, the item may not be withdrawn from sale. Please consider carefully whether you want to place an item for auction prior to listing it as a winning bid is a legal contract.

When listing items, ensure that the items listed for auction do not infringe upon the copyright, trademark or other rights of parties involved. By listing items for sale on this website you represent to us that your items do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of any third party and that you have a legal right to sell the items you list.

Your description of the item must be truthful and accurate. Adding additional unrelated keywords to your listing to make it show up through our Search facilities and other search engines is prohibited. Item Titles may not be in ALL CAPS.

The sale of your item(s) on this auction site:

1. shall not be fraudulent or involve the sale of counterfeit or stolen items;
2. shall not infringe any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy;
3. shall not violate any local, state or federal law, statute, ordinance or regulation;
4. shall not be defamatory, trade libelous, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing;
5. shall not be obscene or contain any type of pornography;
6. shall not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, Active-X components, java-scripting, cancel bots or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information.

You may not post or sell on our website any:

1. item that, by paying to us the listing fee or the final value fee, could cause us to violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance or regulation;
2. live animals, human beings or human body parts (relics, skulls, human remains or other parts), bulk email lists, bombs, explosives, 'illegal weapons', conversion kits/plans unless buyer is authorized to be in possession of said item in accordance to local, state or federal law..

By listing an item, you authorize us to release your contact information, including name, address, email, and telephone number, to the bidders who place bids on this item.

3. Listing Content / Multiple Listings. Auction listings must offer a specific product or service at a specific price. Any listing deemed to be general advertising instead of an offering of something specific for sale may be removed without notice. We reserve the right to edit or remove auction listings as necessary in accordance with our rules, terms and policies. Listings may be moved to a different category if deemed inappropriate for the specified category, so please put your listing in the most appropriate category. We do not allow the posting of excessive numbers of listings for the same item. Excessive duplicate listings may be removed without notice.

4. Terms of Sale. Unless otherwise stated in the seller's auction description (and in accordance to local, state and federal law), the terms of sale of an auction item are as follows:

• Buyer pre-pays in US funds by bank check, money order, or online payment processor as indicated in the auction or classified listing.
• Personal or business checks will be held until they clear (usually 7 business days).
• Buyer pays estimated actual cost of shipping and insurance unless otherwise indicated in the listing.
• Payment must be received within 10 days of initial contact by seller
• Item is guaranteed to be working and as described when delivered; no other warranty (express or implied) is offered by seller.
• Firearms must be shipped only to an FFL Holder. Buyer must mail a copy of his or her transfer dealer's license, signed in blue or red ink, to the seller before the item can be shipped. Buyer must make arrangements with a Transfer Dealer before placing a bid.
• Other items such as ammunition or knives may require proof of age before they can be shipped.

The seller can hold personal checks or money orders until payment clears for a maximum of seven (7) business days. Items must be shipped promptly upon clearance of funds. In general, no transaction should take over 30 days from the close of auction until the buyer receives the item. Seller (or seller's common carrier) is responsible for the item until the item is received by the buyer or the buyer's transfer dealer. We strongly recommend insuring all shipments and using delivery confirmation wherever possible.

5. 'Side Deals' / Non-Winning Bidders. Any transaction made between a non-winning bidder and a seller is a 'side deal' and is outside the scope of this auction site and its rules. Our Privacy Policy prohibits us from providing contact information for users involved in a 'side deal'. Buyers and sellers involved in a 'side deal' cannot post feedback and cannot use the auction site's problem resolution tools. Our Buyer's Protection does not cover 'side deals'. We provide absolutely no assistance of any kind for buyers and sellers involved in a 'side deal' in any way in the event of problems and suggest that you do not participate in these types of transactions.

If a bid does not meet or exceed the reserve price (if any) on the item then the bid is not a winning bid and the non-winning bidder is not obligated to buy the item. Sellers are prohibited from soliciting side deals with non-winning bidders during or after the auction. Non-winning bidders are prohibited from contacting sellers and requesting a side deal during or after the auction. Soliciting side deals may result in suspension or termination of your account.

6. Non-US Buyers and Sellers. As long as all applicable laws of the countries of residence of both buyer and seller are followed, non-US sellers are welcome to list items for sale here on our Sports Only Auction website. Please keep in mind that the vast majority of buyers and sellers here are located in the United States, so buyers tend to assume that the items are located in the US. If the item is not located in the US, you must clearly identify the country in which the item is located in your item listing. This is necessary because the cost of importing an item may be higher than the cost of transferring an item inside the US due to import fees and tariffs. We reserve the right to void any sale in which the item is located outside the US and the country of original is not clearly listed.

If a firearm item is sold to a US buyer by a non-US seller, the item must be legally imported into the US by an FFL holder who must file a form with US Customs. Failure to file the proper paperwork before shipping the item will most likely result in the firearm being confiscated by Customs as it arrives into the country.

7. Fraud Prevention / Dispute Resolution. Complaints of fraud are extremely rare at SportsOnlyAuction.com but we encourage you to exercise common sense when making an online purchase; if something doesn't look right with the auction listing, be sure to contact the seller before bidding on the item. PayPal provides an excellent Buyer's Protection and resolution policy and we encourage you to use PayPal for online transactions.

We provide a feedback system where buyers and sellers can publicly post their experiences with each other. Before placing a bid, the buyer should check the seller's feedback to see how the seller has handled himself in past transactions for all to see. We strongly recommend that the buyer use either a credit card or an online escrow service because of the extra protection these offer. Never send cash or use any payment method that provides no proof of payment!  If you were the winning bidder in an auction transaction and you have sent your payment for the item, and either did not receive your item or received an item substantially different than what was advertised, we will help you resolve the problem to the best of our ability.

8. Auction Closing. The auction listings display the scheduled closing time for the auction. If there is bidding activity on the auction within fifteen (15) minutes of when the auction is scheduled to close, the auction automatically switches into a special mode analogous to the 'going, going, gone' period of a live auction. In this mode, the auction is automatically extended until there have been no bids placed within fifteen (15) minutes. When fifteen (15) minutes have passed with no bidding activity, the auction closes.

9. System Abuse. This auction site reserves the right to refuse service to anyone. We will exercise this right with "problem" buyers who win an auction and fail to complete the transaction with payment or communication as well as with "problem" sellers who list an item and fail to sell it to the high bidder(s).

Without limiting any other remedies, this auction site may terminate your account if you are found (by conviction, settlement, insurance or escrow investigation, or otherwise) to have engaged in fraudulent activity in connection with our site. You agree to be held liable for, and to pay for any costs incurred by this website for your misuse of the system or for your violation of any of the website's rules.

10. Bid Manipulation. Bid manipulation of any kind is expressly forbidden. A seller is prohibited from placing bids or arranging to have bids placed on behalf of seller, or seller's agent. Buyers are prohibited from communicating with each other with the purpose of manipulating the final purchase price of an item as this is not honest or fair behaviour.

11. Technical Difficulties. This auction site is not responsible for bids not being processed or not being accepted due to technical difficulties. Auctions will not be extended due to technical problems. Do not wait until the last minute to bid!

12. User-Generated Content. This auction site is not responsible for user-generated content including auction listing descriptions, messages on our message board, feedback, pictures, etc. You are solely responsible for any information you post our use on this website, and we act as a passive conduit for your online distribution and publication of this information.

If you post information that is slanderous, violates any international, federal, state, or local law, or violates the intellectual property of another party you will be solely liable for the consequences. We may take any action we deem necessary or appropriate in our sole discretion if we believe it may create liability for us or may cause us to lose (in whole or in part) the services of our ISPs or other suppliers. Complaints of copyright violations or infringement of any other type of intellectual property will most likely end with your item being edited or deleted without warning..

13. Illegal Items. By registering as a member of and using SOA you agree that all transactions do not violate any applicable local, state, federal and/or international laws.

14. Feedback. Feedback may only be posted between the winning bidder and the seller in a transaction. Feedback is associated with a specific item listing and must pertain specifically to that item listing. By submitting feedback you agree that your rating and comments are truthful to the best of your knowledge and accurately reflect what happened in the transaction. You may not take any actions which could undermine the integrity of the feedback system, including posting bogus good feedback to artificially improve another user's rating or posting bogus bad feedback to falsely damage another user's rating. If you accumulate excessive negative feedback or display a pattern of unacceptable behavior your account may be suspended or permanently terminated without warning.

SportsOnlyAuction.com is not responsible for the information posted by a user in the feedback system. It is not our responsibility to determine the 'truthfulness' of posted feedback, and we do not arbitrate disputes over feedback. We reserve the right to remove any piece of user-posted feedback at any time for any reason. All complaints about a buyer or seller in an auction must be posted through the feedback system and/or our contact us page. We do not accept these complaints via US Postal Mail or telephone.

15. Registration. Members agree to provide true and accurate information about him/herself in the registration form. It is a violation of Federal law to make bids in a false name or with an invalid credit card, even if our software initially accepts such a bid. Please be aware that even if you do not give us your real name your web browser transmits a unique Internet address (IP) to us which can be used by law enforcement officials to identify you and your location. Do not test our auctions with false bids. This puts you at substantial personal legal risk. Fraudulent bidders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Currently, both the FBI and the US Secret Service are responsible for investigating Internet fraud cases.

16. Payments And Fees. Any and all payments made to this auction site are non-refundable. This holds true whether or not the item sells. If you use a credit card, our billings may appear under the name A-1 Services. Fees for using SportsOnlyAuction.com are detailed on our Fees Page. Returned checks are subject to a $25.00 returned check fee. Writing bad checks is a criminal offense; don't do it because we will prosecute you. By placing a credit card on file with us you expressly authorize us to charge your card for any fees you accrue as a result of using (or misusing) this site. You authorize us to consolidate balances from any duplicate accounts you may have created on our site and bill them to your credit card. You may revoke your authorization by sending a written request by email which may also result in the termination of your account. We reserve the right to continue to bill your card for any services rendered prior to receipt of your written request, or for any fees accrued for any action taken prior to the receipt of your written request (such as any active item listings posted prior to receipt).

If you have a question about a charge on your credit card, please contact us as required by your credit card association rules before attempting to reverse the charges. If you deliberately or inadvertently issue a 'chargeback' to your credit card, your account will be terminated. You agree to pay all costs of processing any chargeback including any fees assessed by the merchant bank or card association and any collection or legal fees we incur, with a minimum of $50.00 per chargeback. Failure to pay these fees will result in your account being turned over to a collection agency and we will pursue civil and criminal legal actions to the fullest extent of the law.

Past due accounts will be terminated and the seller's auctions may be voided at our discretion. Promotional offers, including free or discounted listings, will be void if your account is more than 30 days past due. Accounts that are or have been past due will have their credit limit reduced to zero. Past due balances will be subject to a finance charge of 1.5% per month or the highest amount permitted by applicable law. If your account is past due you agree to pay any and all collection costs including but not limited to court costs, attorney's fees, collection agency fees, and administrative costs.
Unless otherwise stated, all fees are quoted in U.S. Dollars. It is the responsibility of the Seller to collect any local or state tax (if applicable) for any item(s) sold

Bidders: SOA does not accept payment in any form for any item(s) that you bid on, your payment is made to the Seller at the close of the sale. You must remit payment directly to the seller for any item you bid on or win.

17. Credits for Non-paying Buyers. If a bidder wins an item and does not complete the transaction in accordance with the auction rules we will issue a credit for the item listing and bogus sale. To get a credit for the item you must send us a detailed description of the problem and item number through our contact us page.

Sellers: as per Section 2 above you are obligated to complete the transaction if the auction closes with a winning bidder. If the item has a winning bidder and you refuse to sell the item or the item has been sold elsewhere you will not get a credit for any fees you incurred and negative feedback from the bidder will be encouraged. We do not issue credits for sales in which you (the seller) fail to complete the transaction. We do not issue credits for listings/sales which violate our posted rules and policies, including (but not limited to) illegal, improper or invalid listings.

18. Fee Avoidance. Attempting to circumvent or avoid paying our fees is obviously prohibited. Fee avoidance will result in a warning being issued and, if repeated violations occur, termination of the seller's account. Examples of Fee Avoidance include:

• Offering in a listing the opportunity to purchase the item or other merchandise outside of SportsOnlyAuction.com.
• Linking to an item on another web site that is identical to the item offered here but is priced lower than the auction item's Reserve Price or Starting Bid.
• Listing an item with a low price but charging unreasonably high shipping or handling costs
• Listing a single item and offering additional identical items for sale in the item description. In this type of listing the seller instructs buyers to indicate the number of items they want and states that they can get the same price as the item in the listing.

19. Mail System / Spam. Our user-to-user messaging system ("Ask the Seller a Question", "Mail this Auction to a Friend", etc.) exists solely to allow contact between bidder (or potential bidder) and seller for the purpose of engaging in or completing an auction transaction. Use of the messaging system for any other purpose is prohibited. Users agree to refrain from "spamming" (sending unsolicited commercial email to other users). A seller may not contact the bidder(s) on similar listed items and promote his own item or offer another item for sale. Users may not send spam through this auction website to other members or through other mail servers for any purpose of promoting this website. Spamming will be reported to the applicable ISP(s) for further punitive action and may result in criminal or civil penalties under various laws. Abuse of our mail system and/or sending spam is a serious offense and will result in closure of your account here.

20. Scheduled Maintenance / System Downtime. We reserve the hours between 3:00am and 6:00am Eastern Time for system maintenance. This may or may not cause system downtime. Auction ending times may be extended without notice as a result of scheduled or unscheduled downtime.

21. Termination. This auction site may, at its sole discretion, terminate service or membership should a member's conduct fail to conform to our terms and other rules publicly posted on this website. Abuse or use of profanity directed toward this auction site, its personnel, or other members will result in immediate action.

22. Advertising Services. If you elect to participate in our optional advertising services such as paid Banner Ad rotations, Sponsorships, Newsletter or Opt-In Mail Advertising, etc) you understand and agree that all advertising services are non-refundable.

23. Intellectual Property. You agree to refrain from posting or transmitting any materials that infringe any third party's intellectual property, including copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or interests. If you believe that materials posted on this site violate your copyright, please let us know.

Last updated 07/29/2007